1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a telecommunications system for transmitting voice, data, and facsimile, all of which is housed in a booth. More particularly, the present invention relates to a fixed or portable office suite containing a telephone and facsimile machine that provides an enclosed, quiet work place for use by businessmen in airports and convention centers.
2. Background Information
Air travel and hotel living have become a fundamental regimen of business life. The growing group of businessmen and women who are required to travel are discriminating, time sensitive, and educated. They place high value on services and products that can minimize the disruption of travel to facilitate the conducting or completing of business while away from the office. Many services required by these business travelers are not conveniently accessible to them.
Some of the most important services that can be provided to a frequent business traveler while away from the office are those that are telecommunications related. Presently there exists a gap in telecommunications services available to business travelers at airports, hotels, and convention sites. Most travelers are currently restricted to the limited telecommunications services offered through pay phone facilities when waiting at airports or during breaks at convention centers and conferences.
Some airports offer or are pursuing business services through the "business center" concept. These centers usually offer secretarial, banking, facsimile, office, copy, and phone services. Although these centers have been successful, they have many disadvantages. Particularly, business centers are labor intensive in that a secretary and management staff are required, and billings for services are usually tracked and accumulated manually. Business centers are also usually inaccessible in that they are relegated to remote airport areas, and most airports which have them have limited the centers to one location. Business centers are furthermore time consuming. Due to their limited accessibility, a traveler must have sufficient time to locate a business center, conduct business, wait for accumulation of charges, and return to the airline gate.
The technology with respect to pay telephones is beginning to create products with enhanced features. For example, features may include credit card activation and automatic speed dialing. Compugram, Inc., offers a telephone with video display and facsimile add-on features. The Compugram phone requires a computer keyboard to conduct transactions. It is likely that such "smart" phones will replace at least a portion of existing coin-operated pay phones.
Other attempts at accommodating business travelers are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,959,607 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,902,881. U.S. Pat. No. 3,959,607 shows a climate-controlled booth having a chair and work table therein with a telephone on the table. Access to and exit from the booth is provided by an electronic credit card-operated lock system, controlled by a computer. The computer measures the time of use in the booth and the amount of telephone calls made and renders the user a monthly bill charged to his/her credit card. Although such a booth is of interest with respect to the present invention, it is essentially an upgraded phone booth and still does not address many of the capabilities and features sought by the business traveler.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,902,881 discloses a communications terminal offering simultaneous facsimile and telephone services through a host computer, with overall control based upon credit card billing. Document services include facsimile, copying, electronic mail, and document storage. Voice services include voice mail and telephone. The terminal requires a pair of public telephone channels. The terminal is configured in the form of a cabinet and, as such, is not very suitable for the business traveler. Furthermore, the multiple public telephone channels required points to the simultaneous activity of the various features and points away from locating such a unit in high travel traffic areas where public telephone channels are often limited.
All these various devices show motivation to satisfy telecommunications needs, none so compactly brings the many features desired by a business traveler together in the convenient configuration of the present invention.